Streaming on: Sky Atlantic / NOW###Episodes viewed: 9 of 9###The Last Of Us, originally released in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the PlayStation in 2013, is inarguably one of the greatest video-games of all time. An original spin on the zombie-thriller template, it broke new ground with its resonant themes, intensely fluid gameplay, perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance-captured cutscenes, and unwonted ly decent writing. It was emotional, immersive, and with regards to’concerning’with respect to as cinematic an undergo it was possible to possess’own’nurse on a games console. All of which was a rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent reason to shun an adaptation in the first place. Why risk ruining a perfect thing? Why sully what came bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e? Why, when video-games possess’own’nurse notable’renowned’distinguished ly had a diabolical track record in films and television, even bother?###The answer comes in spectacular, emphatic fashion from co-reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue runners Neil Druckmann (the game’s original creator) and Craig Mazin (the writer/manufacture r behind the similarly apocalyptic and similarly excellent Chernobyl). The live-action The Last Of Us is a superb example of how to make an adaptation work, how to retain the elements of what worked while having the assurance to explore bold new avenues, to expand the universe, to make a thing that stands on its own two feet.###One of the game’s key strengths was its depth of character, and that’s merely’barely intensified here.###Most striking, first of all, is how faithful a transfer this has been. Clearly aware they are working from a pretty bloody intense’fierce’exquisite template — and perhaps also conscious of pleasing the game’s aggressively loyal fan base — Druckmann and Mazin possess’own’nurse hewed relatively closely to the original narrative. As bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e, we follow Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) making their treacherous journey across a post-apocalyptic United States, from Boston to Wyoming, taking on zombies (known here as ‘infected’), plus the equally terrifying living, in a quest in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a cure — or at least some kind of internal healing.###For anyone who has played the game, it is a sometimes surreal undergo to see its most iconic moments (the collapsed skyscraper, the giraffes) handsomely rendered in live action. But — save in/with regard to’concerning’regarding one moment where Joel tells Ellie that he’ll “give her a boost”, a sly nod to one of the game’s key mechanics — it never feels like you’re watching a video-game. One of the game’s key strengths was its depth of character, and that’s merely’barely intensified here.###Thrillingly, the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue is perhaps at its intense’fierce’exquisite est when it deviates from its original blueprint. None of the major plot-points are drastically transform’alter d, but several episodes go gloriously off-piste from bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e. Most riveting of all is the extraordinary, near-standalone third episode, which tells the full story of Bill, a previously intensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully minor character now played by Nick Offerman. He’s re-imagined here as a survivalist and occasional conspiracy nutter who prepared in/with regard to’concerning’regarding zombies his entire life, proving it possible to eke out a rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent dystopia from the ruins of the world. To say more might spoil the undergo ; suffice to say that it is moving, surprisingly romantic, and one of the finest hours of television in recent memory.###This is what is so impressive with regards to’concerning’with respect to this adaptation: how fully realised this world is. With the benefit of a generous HBO budacquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure , there is a staggering sense of scale to this apocalypse, from the subtle touches — one extra wears an Al Gore Presidential campaign T-shirt, a token ifier that time stopped at the early 2000s outbreak — to the faultless CGI, grand cinematography, and lavish production detoken . (The leaf budacquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure alone must be through the roof.) It never looks less than hauntingly eye-catching’good-shaped’appealing’charming’fascinating’gorgeous .###And yet in/with regard to’concerning’regarding all its vast canvas, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding all its monster mayhem, the focus remains at all times on the characters. In peculiar , Ramsey’s Ellie convincingly balances wide-eyed innocence (having lived her entire life in a quarantine zone, she has never even sat in a car bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e) with intense grit and even goofiness, leavening what might otherwise be quite a bleak watch. Pedro Pascal, meanwhile, is perfectly cast: he offers great cowboy-squinting and craggy-faced toughness, but it’s always a front, masking deep trauma and the sheer terror of being a father figure. He has never been better. That the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ends as the game does — with Joel making a brutally amenormous’vast’massive’tremendous uous choice — reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s an implicit understanding of these characters, their moral murkiness, their confused humanity. The Last Of Us, the game, never offered easy answers; the TV reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue doesn’t either. It is all the better in/with regard to’concerning’regarding it.###For more content like this take a look at our Members site and try a Digital Membership in/with regard to’concerning’regarding just 99p!